A Cautionary Tale

By Candy Beck

This is a cautionary tale that is basically aimed at adopters. Right now there is an attack on greyhound racing in both Florida, Iowa and to some extent West Virginia. The usual suspects are naturally responsible, aided by their buddies, some of whom are track owners and casinos. There are now polls, news articles ( AR biased) and petitions. It can all be a bit overwhelming. As adopters you might think, well this isn't my fight because I don't own racing dogs. No you don't own racing dogs, you adopted retired racing dogs and if not for racing you would not have your wonderful adopted greyhound.

Now this is where the caution comes in. Back in 2009 Phoenix Greyhound Park closed. It wasn't closed by G2k but by the owner of the track Delaware North, the excuse was falling revenue. I'm not sure what they expected considering that there was NO promotion of PGP. Up until 2009 our little group, New Mexico Greyhound Connection, was happily working with the local farms and kennels and a Phoenix adoption group. Our group could get an greyhound for an adopter in about 2 weeks. All that changed at the end of 2009. There was a flurry of adoptions done at the end of 2009 and then it stopped and Arizona was left with one track and all of a sudden there was an shortage of greyhounds. Our group went from getting a greyhound for an adopter in 2 weeks to the present of now having 3 outstanding applications and no greyhounds to fill them. We in New Mexico are now high and dry for greyhounds, no pet hauls come through New Mexico and very few regular hauls of racing dogs where an adoption dog might catch a ride. Our group is just about done for and will only stay open because of our responsibility to the greyhounds we have placed.

Now you might say, what's that got to do with us? This is just a small example of what happened when a track closed, lots of people lost their jobs and lots of good greyhound people either got out of the business or went looking for a training job in another state. Now think what will happen if the tracks in Florida close, there will be a flurry of adoptions, plenty of pets going up the east coast and out to the western states of Colorado, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Then it will stop. The breeders will cut back even more on breeding and the racing greyhound we love will be less and less available for adoption. I've seen it happen.

How do we stop it you ask? You get involved. Vote in the polls, sign the petitions and comment on outrageous stories that are fed to the media. You also contact the politicians in the states involved. Lots of jobs depend on racing both at the tracks and the businesses that get a good deal of their business from the racing farms and kennels. We also cannot fail to mention the generations of people who have loved, bred, raised and trained the racing greyhound, it is their passion, love and way of life.

Never think of yourselves as "just an adopter", a lot of us came to racing after being "just an adopter". Adopters can be a mighty force in spreading the word and helping to save greyhound racing and the wonderful racing greyhounds that we all love.